Chris Wilkinson, network services director of planning and architecture at Internet2, revealed recently in a blog that the U.S. research and education (R&E) network has deployed its first single-carrier 800-Gbps optical circuit between Phoenix and Tucson. The deployment is part of Internet 2’s Next Generation Infrastructure (NGI) program, which also has seen the addition of flex-grid ROADM capabilities and the deployment of new fiber.
The new 800G connection leverages a 102-GHz carrier between Ciena (NYSE: CIEN) Waveserver 5 transponders at each end. Ciena was named as a major supplier to the NGI program with such capabilities in mind (see “Internet2 to upgrade fiber backbone with Ciena’s 800-Gbps WaveLogic 5”). Ciena is a longstanding partner of Internet2 and had previously supplied its 6500 packet-optical transport platform for the R&E network (see "Ciena, Internet2 partner on new national 100G network"). Wilkinson writes that the hardware upgrades have been underway since 2019 but accelerated last fall. On February 25, 2021, the Internet2 project team finished upgrading its ROADMs with flex-grid capabilities on all east-west long-haul routes nationwide.
Meanwhile, Internet2 has upgraded the majority of the fiber in the network from LEAF to SMF28, which better complements the new coherent transmission technology just deployed, according to Wilkinson (see "Internet2 to travel over CenturyLink’s low-loss fiber network"). With this fiber in place, a second upgrade phase will begin that will add 400G and 800G capabilities to other parts of the fiber network. This second wave of enhancements, scheduled for completion next month, will leverage the Cisco 8200 and Waveserver 5 platforms.
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